College tutoring gets A's at center

HEY targets adolescents, teenagers

Published 5:30 am, Thursday, August 4, 2005

One of the challenges for Ripley House Community Center two years ago was how to attract adolescents and teenagers — demographic groups not easily moved by forces other than peers.

Perhaps a bigger problem — if they actually came knocking on the center's doors at 4410 Navigation — was how to move them into programs that would be good for them.

Helping supply solutions to those problems is Joaquin Martinez, 25. He is a youth specialist with the community center's nonprofit parent organization, Neighborhood Centers Inc., who developed the Higher Education for Youth program, better known by its acronym, HEY.

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Martinez developed HEY to combine educational and social-skills tutoring with recreation and weekly field trips.

"I got this vision in 2002 and something told me to start putting it out there. It's been interesting to see the plan grow from paper," said Martinez, who is in his sophomore year of political science and Mexican-American studies at the University of Houston and Houston Community College.

Since it began at Ripley House, NCI has incorporated HEY into the Harbach-Ripley Community Center on 6225 Northdale in the Sunnyside area, and there are plans for the Cleveland-Ripley center, at 720 Fairmont Parkway in Pasadena, to begin its own youth development program next year.

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There also are plans at NCI's 4500 Bissonnet headquarters to bring the program to more centers throughout Houston as funding allows, said Marc Levinson, NCI's director of agency relations.

Martinez, a 1998 Austin High School graduate who lives near Telephone and Lawndale, was hired to run NCI's after-school programs for 14- to 18-year-olds after serving as an intern for then-District I Councilman John Castillo, predecessor of Carol Alvarado.

'No structure for them'

Martinez soon noticed that his charges weren't in the forefront at NCI, an umbrella organization largely known for early childhood development, parenting and seniors programs.

"The focus was mainly on ages 5- to 10-year-olds. The older students would come, off and on, but there wasn't any structure for them," he said.

Martinez began academic tutoring for 11- to 18-year-olds, but it wasn't an overnight hit, with only 15 people in his first 11- to 13-year-olds group and fewer teenage participants.

But he persevered, choosing the "HEY" name for the program and developed academic studies to help prepare for state-mandated tests faced at regular middle and high schools.

"In the programming I had envisioned, we had academics through the summer to help them retain information throughout the year," he said.

Improving scores

Martinez gave tests to measure student mastery of subjects and focused on tutoring sessions. His students — and those tutored by his three staff assistants who have come on board — increased their grasp of subjects explored in the community center's classroom.

Both groups went from a passing rate of about 30 to 40 percent at the beginning to "between 65- to 76 percent correct," he said.

"We weren't looking for 100 percent scores, but increases," he said. "That was more important. That way, there's not too much pressure."

Students in his program don't just cram the books.

"We help to teach the students, but we also split into teams and compete in math, literature, history, logic and writing. We're not teachers; we're helping them to develop their skills," Martinez said.

Winners of the academic competitions get prizes, such as free pizza on Fridays, he said.

"This summer, we've split the program into three different, three-week periods — leadership, community service and college preparation," Martinez said.

His students have taken field trips to various university campuses in and outside of Houston. Martinez has corralled a few of his friends from a Latino, community service-grounded fraternity into speaking to his students about their improved prospects as a result of the college experience.

"In the summer, we go on field trips to Sea Rim State Park, Galveston's Surfside Beach, camping out in state parks, or just go to movies after the academics part," he said. "When we're in the gym for recreational times, we interact with one another."

Older students help judge projects by younger students, who tend to see the "senior" group as role models, he said.

No matter what age group, the students often share with their tutors and one another whatever is going on in their lives.

"They give each other hugs," he said.

Changing lives

The mixture of academic tutoring, recreational and educational field trip opportunities and social and emotional support can be life-altering, say two of HEY's graduates.

"(Martinez) got me and all the kids to stay in school and to do extra-curricular studies and community service," said Adriana Reyes, who is a freshman at the University of Houston-Downtown campus, as is former HEY student Vicki Garcia, who said Martinez is a guide and a friend.

"He has taught me to be confident and to believe I am able to do anything I desire," she said.

Martinez recently was voted one of Channel 39 TV's Unsung Hero awards, and he said he would like to someday hang the award on the wall — along with multiple college degrees — of his old high school.

"I hope to teach and continue my education to be a principal at Austin High School," said Martinez, one of the school's 1998 graduates. "After that, I want to go into public service, maybe at City Council, maybe higher — who knows? That way, I'll be able to reach more people."